NNA – Turkey on Wednesday shut the busy Dardanelle Strait for a second day to help firefighters fill up with water and douse flames near the tourist town of Canakkale.
Emergency responders said they had made progress containing a patchwork of fires that on Tuesday covered the edge of the popular seaside vacation destination with dark rolling clouds of smoke.
ldquo;Itrsquo;s better today than yesterday,rdquo; Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said in televised remarks.
ldquo;Our friends stopped the fire from advancing. If therersquo;s no wind, we will see the picture more clearly in the afternoon,rdquo; he added.
Officials said the flames had prompted the evacuation of 1,251 people and saw 48 seek hospital treatment for smoke inhalation.
The blaze also closed a local university campus and forced doctors to evacuate some patients from a hospital as a precaution.
The Dardanelle Strait links the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara and is a popular tourist destination because it is also the site of the ancient ruins of Troy. mdash; AFPnbsp;
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